"Until the 1960s, it was widely assumed that in Western Europe the 'New Monarchy' propelled kingdoms and principalities onto a modern nation-state trajectory. John I of Portugal (1358-1433), Charles VII (1403-1461) and Louis XI (1423-1483) of France, Henry VII and Henry VIII of England (1457-1509, 1509-1553), Isabella of Castile (1474-1504) and Ferdinand of Aragon (1479-1516) were, by improving royal administration, by bringing more continuity to communication with their estates and by introducing more regular taxation, all seen to have served that goal. In this view, princes were assigned to the role of developing and implementing the sinews of state as a sovereign entity characterized by the coherence of its territorial borders and its central administration and government. They shed medieval traditions of counsel and instead enforced relations of obedience toward the emerging 'state'."--Provided by publisher.

In the decades before the First World War no British institution epitomised national identity more forcefully than the monarchy, and no other institution inspired such a universal feeling of loyalty and attachment. The crown reached this position in the half-century after 1861 by giving up its residual political power to a more powerful and more representative House of Commons and transforming itself into a powerfully symbolic institution, by concentrating its efforts on ceremony. The politicians who transformed the monarchy in an era of mass politics, mass movements and massive ceremonial displays constituted a cross-section of the political world. What were these men doing? What was in their minds as they planned enormous royal spectacles in London? This book focuses on the action of five different individuals who created the modern monarchy: Walter Bagehot, W.E. Gladstone, Lord Esher, Randall Davidson and the Duke of Norfolk.

A Monarchy Transformed is a vigorous, concise account of the political developments that changed an isolated archipelago in the corner of Europe into one of the greatest powers of the Western world.

With little domestic fanfare and even less attention internationally, Japan has been reinventing itself since the 1990s, dramatically changing its political economy, from one managed by regulations to one with a neoliberal orientation. Rebuilding from the economic misfortunes of its recent past, the country retains a formidable economy and its political system is healthier than at any time in its history. Japan Transformed explores the historical, political, and economic forces that led to the country's recent evolution, and looks at the consequences for Japan's citizens and global neighbors. The book examines Japanese history, illustrating the country's multiple transformations over the centuries, and then focuses on the critical and inexorable advance of economic globalization. It describes how global economic integration and urbanization destabilized Japan's postwar policy coalition, undercut the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's ability to buy votes, and paved the way for new electoral rules that emphasized competing visions of the public good. In contrast to the previous system that pitted candidates from the same party against each other, the new rules tether policymaking to the vast swath of voters in the middle of the political spectrum. Regardless of ruling party, Japan's politics, economics, and foreign policy are on a neoliberal path. Japan Transformed combines broad context and comparative analysis to provide an accurate understanding of Japan's past, present, and future.

France and England are often seen as monarchies standing at opposite ends of the spectrum of seventeenth-century European political culture. On the one hand the Bourbon monarchy took the high road to absolutism, while on the other the Stuarts never quite recovered from the diminution of their royal authority following the regicide of Charles I in 1649. However, both monarchies shared a common medieval heritage of sacral kingship, and their histories remained deeply entangled throughout the century. This study focuses on the interaction between ideas of monarchy and images of power in the two countries between the execution of Mary Queen of Scots and the Glorious Revolution. It demonstrates that even in periods when politics were seemingly secularized, as in France at the end of the Wars of Religion, and in latter seventeenth- century England, the appeal to religious images and values still lent legitimacy to royal authority by emphasizing the sacral aura or providential role which church and religion conferred on monarchs.

The New York Times–bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner examines the history of leadership, and the crucial role of leaders in a healthy democracy. In Transforming Leadership, James MacGregor Burns illuminates the evolution of leadership structures—from the chieftains of tribal African societies, through Europe’s absolute monarchies, to the blossoming of the Enlightenment’s ideals of liberty and happiness during the American Revolution. Along the way, he looks at key breakthroughs in leadership and the towering leaders who attempted to transform their worlds—Elizabeth I, Washington, Jefferson, Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, Gorbachev, and others. Culminating in a bold and innovative plan to address the greatest global leadership challenge of the twenty-first century, the long-intractable problem of global poverty, Transforming Leadership will spark lively discussion in classrooms and boardrooms throughout the country.

Return to the enthralling and always surprising world of Tyme, this time with a roguish frog prince and a secret plot, as Megan Morrison continues her acclaimed fantasy series. Syrah Huanui is a frog. He wasn't always one--once he was a Prince of the Olive Isles, a champion launchball player, a beloved favorite of all.Or so he thought! After accidentally (OK, intentionally) letting a love letter from the cloying Deli Gourd get published for everyone to read, his fed-up family kicks him out. And an unfortunate encounter with a Wishing Well leaves him trapped in the body of a frog, with no hope of transforming back.A year later, Syrah finds himself in Yellow alongside who else: Deli. A sudden, deadly plague has started to run through the country, right before a crucial election for Governor. Syrah isn't sure he'll ever become himself again, or if anyone will ever realize that it's HIM in there, but he is sure he might be able to help stop whatever evil is going on...